Sprinkler head apparatus

ABSTRACT

A sprinkler head apparatus is provided having a casing adapted to be connected to a water line in which the casing has a tube passing through the top thereof with a nozzle on the end exterior to the casing and a raceway attached to the other end of the tube inside the casing. The raceway has a ball located therein adapted to ride in a generally circular path and a protrusion connected thereto whereby intermittent collision with the ball riding in the raceway will rotate the raceway along with the tube and nozzle of the sprinkler head. The raceway has an inlet for water to enter at an angle generally tangential to the raceway for driving the ball in the raceway. The water entering the raceway may then pass into the tube and out the nozzle of the sprinkler head. The raceway has a second variable water inlet through which water may enter the raceway directly into the tube thereby varying the amount entering the angled inlet for driving the ball so that the rate of rotation of the tube and nozzle can be varied as desired.

United States Patent Healy 154] SPRINKLER HEAD APPARATUS [72] inventor: Mark Healy, Orange County, Fla. [73] Assignee: Senninger Irrigation, Inc., Orlando, Fla. [22] Filed: Apr. 2, 1971 [21 1 Appl. No.: 130,653

[52] US. Cl ..239/206, 239/230 {51) Int. Cl. ..B05b 3/00 [58] Field 01 Search ..239/203, 204, 206, 230, 260

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,009,478 7/1935 Coles et al. ..239/230 2,990,120 6/1961 Reynolds ....239/206 X 3,103,313 9/1963 Raem ....239/23O 3,127,110 3/1964 Reynolds 239/230 X 3,334,817 8/1967 Miller et al... ..239/206 X 3,602,431 8/1971 Lockwood ..239/206 X 1125,942 12/1965 Reynolds ..239/206 Primary Examiner-M. Henson Wood, Jr. Assistant Examiner-Thomas C. Culp, Jr. AtromeyDuckworth & Hobby [5 7] ABSTRACT A sprinkler head apparatus is provided having a casing adapted to be connected to a water line in which the casing has a tube passing through the top thereof with a nozzle on the end exterior to the casing and a raceway attached to the other end of the tube inside the casing, The raceway has a bail located therein adapted to ride in a generally circular path and a protrusion connected thereto whereby intermittent collision with the ball riding in the raceway will rotate the raceway along with the tube and nozzle of the sprinkler head. The raceway has an inlet for water to enter at an angle generally tangential to the raceway for driving the ball in the raceway. The water entering the raceway may then pass into the tube and out the nozzle of the sprinkler head. The raceway has a second variable water inlet through which water may enter the raceway directly into the tube thereby varying the amount entering the angled inlet for driving the ball so that the rate of rotation of the tube and nozzle can be varied as desired.

10 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTED MAY 3 0 I972 SHEET 10F 3 FIG. 3

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PATENTED MAY 3 0 I972 SHEET 2 OF 3 SPRINKLER HEAD APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to sprinkler heads and more particularly to intermittently rotatable fluid pressure type sprinkler heads which may or may not be provided with a popup type nozzle.

In the past a great variety of sprinkler heads have been provided for sprinkling lawns as well as for use in watering commercial acreages such as groves. One common type of prior art sprinkler head utilizes the water pressure to provide intermittent rotation of the sprinkler head in a step by step movement to water an area defined by a circle and one of the more common types provides a mechanism which is usually spring loaded and recurringly impinged upon the water stream to rotate the sprinkler head in small steps. The present sprinkler head relates more particularly to the type of sprinkler heads which may be of a pop-up type or not as desired, but provides for rotation of the nozzle located in a tube extending from the casing. It has been suggested in prior art devices to provide a unit having a housing with a pop-up sleeve and a rotating tube inside the sleeve, and into which water enters from the bottom, rotates a ball around a hollow interior frusto-conical surface flaring outwardly so that when the ball reaches the top of the conical surface, it hits a protrusion intermittently rotating the sprinkler nozzle member inside the sleeve. This mechanism can be seen in US. Pat. No. Re. 25,942 by E. N. Reynolds, and dated Dec. I4, I965.

Another prior art rotating ball type sprinkler head which ball contacts a member when rising inside a casing, is illustrated in US. Pat. No. 3,l27,l 10. In addition to these patents, there have also been prior art rotating balls of different types for use in sprinkler heads and it has been commonly suggested to use impeller type rotating devices for sprinkler heads with or without pop-up mechanisms.

Finally, the present invention is related to an improvement over my prior art sprinkler head apparatus patent application Ser. No. 65,647, for Sprinkler Head Apparatus.

It is accordingly one object of the present invention to provide an improved sprinkler head with or without a pop-up nozzle and which advantageously has a raceway attached directly to a nozzle tube and having a ball in the raceway adapted to collide with a protrusion therein and especially to a sprinkler head of this type having a variable inlet into the nozzle tube to vary the speed of rotation of the nozzle and nozzle tube. Thus a sprinkler head is provided which is simple, reliable and economical to manufacture yet provides for varying the speed of rotation of the nozzle ofthe sprinkler head.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to sprinkler heads and especially to sprinkler heads adapted for intermittent rotating motion produced by the impetus of the water in the sprinkler head casing. The casing has a water inlet therein for receiving water from a water line. A nozzle tube passes through the casing with a nozzle at one end exterior to the casing and a raceway on the other end thereof located inside the casing. The raceway has a ball located therein for moving in a generally circular direction around the raceway and has an opening angled therein so that water entering the raceway through the opening will drive the ball around the circular raceway. A protrusion is provided in the raceway for intermittent collision with the ball rotating in the raceway, which collision will intermittently move the raceway along with the tube it is connected to and the nozzle connected at the other end thereof. The water entering the raceway will then pass into the tube and out of the noule. A second opening into the raceway or directly into the nozzle tube, is adapted to be varied so that the amount of water passing therethrough can be preset as desired, thereby controlling the amount of water that will pass through the first or angled raceway opening and thus varying the speed at which the ball will be rotated in the raceway and the speed of rotation of the raceway nozzle tube and nonle.

The second opening may be varied by attaching a rotatable disc to the exterior side of the raceway, which disc has a series of different size holds passing therethrough to be rotated over an opening in the raceway directly over the bottom of the nozzle tube whereby the disc can be rotated to the desired size hole which thereby limits the flow of water through the opening in the raceway.

The present sprinkler head may also be of a pop-up type by extending the length of the nozzle tube and the casing, whereby the raceway and nozzle tube can slide in the opening in the casing when water pressure is applied inside the casing and when the water pressure is removed from inside the casing the nozzle tube will slide back into the casing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other objects, features and advantages of this invention will be apparent from a study of the written description and the drawings, in which FIG. 1 shows a sprinkler head in accordance with the present invention being buried in the ground with the cap portion showing;

FIG. 2 shows the embodiment of FIG. 1 with the earth removed from the side and with the pop-up nozzle being in a raised position;

FIG. 3 shows the top sectional view of the embodiment of FIG. I;

F IGv 4 shows a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG.

FIG. 5 shows a sectional view taken on the line 55 of FIG.

FIG. 6 shows a sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of FIG.

FIG. 7 shows a sectional view taken on the line 7--7 of FIG.

FIG. 8 shows a sectional view of a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 shows a sectional view taken on the line 99 of FIG. 8 and FIG. 10 shows a sectional view taken on the line 10-10 of FIG. 8.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a sprinkler head 10 is illustrated placed in the earth 11 and having a casing 12 and a casing cap 13 forming part of the casing and also a nozzle cap 14. Casing 12 is connected by water line 15 and an inlet to the casing 16. Nozzle cap 14 is connected to a nozzle tube 17 which slides in an inlet or nozzle tube opening 18 which has a notched surface 20. The surface allows water to flow through the opening 18 along the edge of the tube 17, as the tube 17 is being pushed upward, thereby flushing any sand or other dirt or trash from the opening to prevent the tube 17 from sticking. Nozzle cap 14 has a noule opening 2] for the passage of water from tube 17. It will of course be clear as illustrated in FIG. 8 that other types of nozzles can be used without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Sprinkler head 10 is operated by water pressure being applied through the water line 15 into the casing 12, which water pressure forces the nozzle tube 17 through the opening 18 to its uplifted or raised position and forces water out of the nozzle 14 opening 21. The water pressure also forces the rotation of nozzle tube 17 in the opening 18 whereby the water being forced out the nozzle 14 will sprinkle or irrigate a circular section in the rotation of the nozzle tube 17. Nozzle tube 17 of the present invention can be rotated at varying predetermined speeds of rotation.

Referring now to FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 7, the operation of the sprinkler 10 can be more clearly understood. Sprinkler head 10 includes the casing 12, with the cap 13 enclosing an internal space 22 having the nozzle tube 17 riding in the opening 18. The casing 12 can be seen as having a threaded portion 23 for threading the cap 13 into so that the inside 22 of the casing 12 can be easily gotten to if necessary and aseal 24 is provided between the cap 13 and the threaded portion 23 of the casing 12 to prevent egress of water along the connection. The tube 17 can be seen to have annular seals 25 and 26 wrapped therearound along with the annular lubricating or slide member 27 so that when the tube 17 is in its lower position, water and water pressure is applied from the water pipe through the inlet 16 to casing 12. Water will flow through the opening 18 around the tube 17 until such time as the tube rises high enough that the seal engages the annular ledge of bottom portion 28 of the extending portion 30 of cap 13. Seal 25 then prevents any additional water from flowing through tube 18 around tube 17, while the sliding member 27 allows the tube to slide during rotation. The bottom portion of the tube 17 has a raceway assembly 31 attached thereto which raceway assembly forms an annular raceway 32 therein for a ball 33 to ride in a circular motion. The raceway 32 is formed by bottom portion 34 and a top portion 35 and a circular side 36 along with the sleeve 37 which attaches to the tube 17. This raceway also has protruding bars 38 from the bottom of the sleeve 37 to maintain contact with the bottom 34 of the raceway assembly 31 when the portion 34 is attached to the side 36 by notches 40 which allows the bottom 34 to be maintained in position which can be removed, if desired. The side 36 of raceway assembly 31 has an angled opening 41 therein which is angled in a generally tangential line to the raceway 32 so that the water entering the opening 41 will be directed against the ball 33 to drive it around the raceway 32. This angled opening 31 has a protruding portion 42 so that it extends into the raceway 32 allowing better direction of the angled opening 41 and also a protrusion for the ball 32 to collide with in a circular motion. This collision of the ball 33 with protruding portion 32 results from the centrifugal force keeping the ball against the outer wall 36 during rotation and forces the raceway assembly 31 along with the tube 17 to rotate in intermittent steps. Following each collision the ball will move off of the protruding portion 42 and continue on around the raceway. Thus, the sprinkler can be directed in a rotational movement to water a circular area. The water being forced through opening 41 is accomplished by water pressure being applied in the interior 22 of the casing 12 where the water pressure forces the water through the opening 41 directed along a generally tangential line to a portion of the raceway 32 and then the water can pass through passageways 43 formed by protruding members 38 attached to the bottom of the sleeve 37 through an opening 44 at the bottom of the tube 17, and thereby to nozzle 14v This produces a particularly desira ble means of rotating the sprinkler tube 17 in that no angles are required in the raceway 32 and the water inlet 16 can be located anywhere in the sprinkler bottom, side or elsewhere without affecting the operation of the sprinkler since the water is forced by means of the water pressure through the opening 41 at a predetennined angle. However, like most prior art sprinklers of this type, this would provide a single speed of stepped rotation. The present invention provides means of varying the speed by an opening 45 in the bottom 34, of the raceway assembly 31 which opening 45 is directed directly in line with the opening 44 of the bottom of tube 17. This opening 45 is adapted to be varied in size so that the water passing through the combined openings 41 and 45 can be varied by varying the passage of water through the opening 41 to change the speed of the ball 33. Opening 45 is varied in the present embodiment by disc 46 which has a series of openings 47 therein, each of different size. Gripping members 48 are placed on the disc to make it easy to rotate disc 46 on a connecting pin 50 which holds the disc 46 to the bottom 34 of the assembly 31. This can be more clearly seen in FIG. 7 in which the disc 46 held by the protruding member 50 of the bottom 34 of the assembly 31 with the varying openings 40 in the disc 46. Openings 47 are for engaging a slight protrusion 51 for holding the disc 46 in place. To vary the speed of rotation, an operator would have to remove the cap 13 of the easing 12 along with the guide assembly 31 and rotate the disc 46 to align one of the holes 47 with the hole 45 in the bottom 34 of assembly 31, or rotate it to the position 52, blocking off the hole 45. Thus, the amount of water that could flow through the hole 45 and the amount of water under any determined water pressure that would flow through opening 41 is easily controlled resulting in different speeds of rotation of the tube 17 and nozzle 14.

Referring now to FIGS. 8-10, a second embodiment of the present invention is illustrated, having a nozzle assembly 61, casing assembly 62 and raceway assembly 63. This embodiment differs from that of the embodiment of F lGS. 1-7 in that a different nozzle 61 is utilized which remains in a rotatable but vertical fixed position. That is to say, it does not pop up and in that the water pipe 64 enters the casing 12 at inlet 65 which is in a different location than in the previous embodiment. The operation of the raceway is the same as previously described which raceway includes a ball 33, a bottom portion 34 and a circular outer portion 36 along with the top portion 35 defining the raceway 32, as previously described. The raceway also includes a sleeve portion 37 for attachment to the noule tube 66 along with the protruding members 38 forming a passageway 43 to allow water to pass through an opening 44 into the tube 66. Casing 12 includes a cap or top member 67 along with a seal 68 similar to that already described in connection with FIGS. 1 through 7. This embodiment provides a threaded end 70 on the end of tube 66 for attaching the nozzle assembly 61 which includes forward nozzle portion 71 and rearward nozzle portion 72 for distributing or sprinkling the water in two directions simultaneously. The rear portion 72 has a threaded nozzle portion 73 whereby this por tion can be easily removed from the frame portion 74 for cleaning the nozzle and can be replaced with a solid member if for any reason it were desired not to spray from the rear. Forward portion 71 has a threaded nozzle member 75 with removable wear inserts 76 inserted therein, thus removing of the portion 75 will allow wear member 76 to be exchanged for different sizes and when members 76 become sufficiently worn to require replacement, seal 77 is also provided to seal nozzle member 75 in the forward portion 71. In operation the water from pipes 64 enters through the inlet 65 to the casing 12 into the interior 78 of the casing. When sufficient pressure builds up water is forced to pass through the opening 41 which is angled in accordance with the circular raceway 32, drives the ball 33 in a circular path until it collides with the protrud ing portion 42, rotating the raceway 63 along with the nozzle tube 66, rotating the sprinkler head assembly 61. This embodiment also provides for seals 80 and 81 and sliding member 82, similar to the previous embodiment and also has spring member 83 which is annular shaped with a sine or wavy shape which maintains a predetermined force between the ledge 84 of sleeve 37 and the bottom of seal 81 for maintaining a tight seal between the inside 78 and the extended sleeve 85 of the cap portion 87 to prevent water from escaping along the edge of the tube 66. This embodiment also provides the mechanism for varying the speed of the rotation of nozzle tube 66, raceway 63 and noale assembly 61 which has a disc 46 having protrusions 48 and variable sized openings 47, as previously described. This disc has a closed position 52 and the center holding member 50, and is used to vary the speed and amount of water that can flow through an opening 45 in the bottom 34 of the raceway assembly 31 and which may be directed into the tube 66 through the opening 44.

It will of course be clear at this time that the components of the present sprinkler head can be of any material desired, but the preferred materials have been plastic, such as acetal, or the like, for the casing and raceway, while the nozzle tube has preferably been made of metal and the ball of stainless steel as it is commercially available. Thus, to those skilled in the art, a sprinkler head has been described in two embodiments, but other embodiments are anticipated, such as varying the types of nozzles utilized from the present sprinkler head, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, this invention is not to be construed as limited to the particular forms disclosed herein since these are to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive.

I claim:

1. A sprinkler head apparatus comprising in combination:

a. a casing having a water inlet therein adapted to receive water therethrough;

b. tubular means having two end portions and being rotatably connected to and extending through said casing;

c. nozzle means located on one end portion of said tubular means exterior to said casing;

d. raceway means located on the other end portion of said tubular means inside said casing and means adapted for water to pass from inside said raceway into said tubular means;

e. ball means located in said raceway means and adapted to move in a circular direction and said raceway;

f. protrusion means located in said raceway and attached thereto for intermittent collision with said ball means during movement of said ball means in its circular direction;

g. said raceway means having water inlet means for allowing water inside said casing to enter said raceway to drive said ball means in said raceway whereby intermittent collision with said protrusion means will rotate said raceway means along with said tubular means and said noule means and water entering said raceway can pass into said tubular means and out said nozzle means.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 in which said raceway means water inlet means includes a second water inlet for allowing water to enter into said tubular means.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2 in which said second water inlet to said raceway means has means to vary the inlet size for controlling the amount of water that passes therethrough whereby varying the size of the inlet will vary the water passing through both said first and second inlets to said raceway, thereby varying the rate of rotation of said raceway means, tubular means and norJJe means.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3 in which said second inlet to said raceway means is varied by means of a rotating disc having varying sized opening therein adapted to be aligned with the second inlet in said raceway to reduce said second inlet in accordance with said opening in said disc which is aligned with said second inlet.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4 in which said rotatable disc has a closed position for blocking said second inlet.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5 in which said second inlet is aligned with the bottom of said tubular means.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6 in which said sprinkler apparatus has an elongated casing adapted for said raceway means and tubular means to be lifted when water pressure is applied to the inside of said casing whereby said nozzle means may be lifted to an elevated position during operation.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7 in which said rotatable disc has protrusions for aligning each inlet therethrough with the second inlet to said raceway means.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, in which said inlet to said raceway is angled in a generally tangential line to said raceway.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9 in which said inlet sides extend into said raceway means to provide the protrusion means therefor. 

1. A sprinkler head apparatus comprising in combination: a. a casing having a water inlet therein adapted to receive water therethrough; b. tubular means having two end portions and being rotatably connected to and extending through said casing; c. nozzle means located on one end portion of said tubular means exterior to said casing; d. raceway means located on the other end portion of said tubular means inside said casing and means adapted for water to pass from inside said raceway into said tubular means; e. ball means located in said raceway means and adapted to move in a circular direction and said raceway; f. protrusion means located in said raceway and attached thereto for intermittent collision with said ball means during movement of said ball means in its circular direction; g. said raceway means having water inlet means for allowing water inside said casing to enter said raceway to drive said ball means in said raceway whereby intermittent collision with said protrusion means will rotate said raceway means along with said tubular means and said nozzle means and water entering said raceway can pass into said tubular means and out said nozzle means.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1 in which said raceway means water inlet means includes a second water inlet for allowing water to enter into said tubular means.
 3. The apparatus according to claim 2 in which said second water inlet to said raceway means has means to vary the inlet size for controlling the amount of water that passes therethrough whereby varying the size of the inlet will vary the water passing throuGh both said first and second inlets to said raceway, thereby varying the rate of rotation of said raceway means, tubular means and nozzle means.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 3 in which said second inlet to said raceway means is varied by means of a rotating disc having varying sized opening therein adapted to be aligned with the second inlet in said raceway to reduce said second inlet in accordance with said opening in said disc which is aligned with said second inlet.
 5. The apparatus according to claim 4 in which said rotatable disc has a closed position for blocking said second inlet.
 6. The apparatus according to claim 5 in which said second inlet is aligned with the bottom of said tubular means.
 7. The apparatus according to claim 6 in which said sprinkler apparatus has an elongated casing adapted for said raceway means and tubular means to be lifted when water pressure is applied to the inside of said casing whereby said nozzle means may be lifted to an elevated position during operation.
 8. The apparatus according to claim 7 in which said rotatable disc has protrusions for aligning each inlet therethrough with the second inlet to said raceway means.
 9. The apparatus according to claim 8, in which said inlet to said raceway is angled in a generally tangential line to said raceway.
 10. The apparatus according to claim 9 in which said inlet sides extend into said raceway means to provide the protrusion means therefor. 